Wire rope has many common industrial uses, such as lifting and hauling operations, towing, and tie-downs. In many of these applications, wire rope is used with rigging hardware, such as wire rope slings. Such slings comprise various wire rope fittings, as well as terminations, which secure the ends of the wire rope to prevent fraying, thus allowing the rope to transmit force. Often, a wire rope sling terminates in a loop, with the loose end being secured back onto the main rope. Fittings, such as clamps, clips, sockets, and swaged fittings are often used to secure the loose end of the rope back onto the rest of the wire rope.
Thimbles are commonly used to preserve the natural shape of the loop. Thimbles serve to prevent the wire rope loop from bending too tightly when loaded, and thus prevent pinching and abrading of the inner surface of the wire rope loop. A shackle is often provided to connect the wire rope loop and thimble to another object, such as an object to be lifted. Together, the wire rope, one or more thimbles, one or more shackles, and one or more other fittings are combined to form a wire rope sling assembly.
Such wire rope slings are often used in heavy duty operations, and thus placed under great stresses and tension when in use. As a result, components of wire rope slings sometimes fail in the field, and users may replace individual components with cheaper or lower quality versions of those components, thus compromising the integrity of the wire rope sling. These practices can subject manufacturers to unwarranted liability. There thus remains a need for an improved wire rope sling assembly and assembly components that do not allow for such unsafe practices in the field.